Signal attachment for letter-boxes.



Patented May 14, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C. BAILEY.

APPLIUATION FILED 11110.10, 1910.

SIGNAL ATTACHMENT FOR LETTER BOXES. 1,026,338.

S z @l w COLUMBIA PLANoaRAPn co.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

0. BAILEY.

SIGNAL ATTACHMENT FOR LETTER BOXES.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

CLARK BAILEY, or UTICA, NEW YORK, AssIGNoR To LEWIs J. SMALL, 0F UTICA,NEW YORK.

SIGNAL ATTACHMENT FOR LETTER-BOXES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1912.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CLARK BMLEY, citi- Zen ofthe United States, residing at Utica, in the county of Oneida and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SignalAttachments for Letter-Boxes, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to improvements in letter boxes, moreparticularly to boxes employed in the rural free delivery service, andhas for its object to provide a simply constructed attachment wherebythe act of inserting mail into the box will release an indicator whichwill denote that mail has been inserted into the box, and means wherebywhen mail is removed from the box the indicator will be withdrawn fromobservation. i

Vith this and other objects in view the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction as hereinafter shown and described andthen specifically pointed out in the claim.

The improved device may be applied without material structural changesto any of the various forms of mail boxes in which a mail inserting slotand a movable closure for the opening through which the mail is removedis employed, and for the purpose of illustration is shown applied to aconventional mail box, and in the drawings thus employed, Figure 1 is afront elevation of the improved box; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation; Fig. 3is a section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a plan View with thebox in section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

The improved box is of the usual rectangular form and includes the front10 and the back 11. Formed through the front 10, preferably near theupper end, is a relatively small opening or slot 12 through which themail is inserted, and a larger opening, indicated at 13, through whichthe mail is removed. The smaller slot is provided with a closure 14internally of the box and hingedly connected at its upper edge at 15.The closure 14 is thus arranged to swing inwardly when mail is depositedin the box. The larger closure 13 is provided with a door 16 hingedlyunited at 17 to the box near the lower end and arranged to swingoutwardly. The door 16 is provided with a suitable lock, represented at18. Located within the Inail box, and preferably attached to one of theend walls of the same is a base member 19 of vulcanite, or other similarnon-conducting material, and containing a contact plate 20, and with alever 21 pivoted at 22 to the plate and adapted when in one position toengage the contact 2() and to be detached therefrom when in anotherposition. By this means a suitable circuit closing device is produced.The lever 21 is connected at its lower end to the lower edge of theclosure 14 by a rigid arm 23, andais held yieldably in open positionrelative to the contact 2O by a spring 24. By this means the springoperates to maintain the closure 14 yieldably in closed position andlikewise to hold the lever 21 yieldably in position disconnected fromthe contact 20, as shown in Fig. 3. Mounted to slide vertically throughguides 25 is a bar 26 having an arm 27 at one end and carrying anindicator or target device 28, preferably containing the word Mail. Thearm 26 is provided with a spring 29 operating to move the latterupwardly when released. The guides 25 are so located that when the arm2G is in its downward position the indicator 28 will be withdrawn belowthe upper edge of the back 11 of the box, and will thus be concealedbehind the box.

Formed through the rear or back 11 of the box is a slot 38, andextending from the bar 2G is a stop lug 31 which projects through theslot and into the interior of the box. The lug 31 bears upon the bottomof the slot 38 when the bar 26 is in its lower position, and thus limitsthe downward movement of the bar. Projecting from the lever 21 isanother .stop lug 30 which engages with the lug 31 and thus locks thebar 26 in its lower position and against the resistance of the spring29, and with the target concealed. The two lugs 30-31 engage each otherby relatively long contiguous faces, so that no danger exists of theaccidental disconnection of the parts while at the same time the lugsare readily separable when the door 14 is pushed inwardly. Theconnecting link 23 being rigid the movements of the parts are positive,and no danger exists of any changes taking place in the lengths of themembers.

The door member 16 is connected to the bar 26 by a section of chain orbendable wire 32 which passes over a guide pulley 35. The connectingmember 32 is so arranged that when the door 16 is opened the bar 26 willbe drawn downwardly until the lug 31 engages beneath the stop lug 80 andthus locks the member 26 in its lower position against Athe resistanceof the spring 29 and likewise maintaining the indicator 28 in concealedposition behind the box.

An electrically operated signal device will preferably be connected intothe improved apparatus and may be located at any desired Lpoint, and towhich the conductor wires 36-37 are connected in the ordinary manner,but the signaling apparatus is not shown, as its construction is so wellknown. By this means so long as the member 14 is closed the lever 21will be maintained in broken or open position, but in the event of themember 14 being actuated by the insertion of mail the circuit. will beclosed through the signal and the latter sounded, thus notifying theproprietors of the box that mail has been deposited therein. Thesignaling will necessarily be of short duration owing to the fact thatas soon as the mail drops into the box t-he spring 24 closes the member14 and incidentally returns the lever 21 to its former position andbreaks the circuit through the signal device.

The improved apparatus is simple in construction, can be inexpensivelymanufactured and applied without material structural changes to mailboxes of various sizes and forms and located in any position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as lnew is:

The combination with a mail box having a slot through one of its wallsand with an opening through which the mail is inserted, a movableclosure to said opening, a bar carrying a target and movably connectedto the box, a stop lug extending from said target-carrying bar andprojecting through said slot, a spring operating t-o elevate said bar,an arm pivoted intermediate its ends within the box, a catch lugextending from said bar at one side of its pivot and engaging the stoplug of the target-carrying bar, and a rigid member connected to theswinging closure and to the lever at the opposite side of its pivot.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLARK BAILEY. [1.. s]

litnesses EDWARD W. MA'rI-inws, HENRY F. SMALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents ea'ch, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

